Premier League clubs face growing fixture pile-up over big chill

Premier League clubs are facing a fixture pile-up as concerns grow that the continuing freezing weather may affect this week's FA Cup replays and next weekend's league programme with the number of available dates on which to play rescheduled games dwindling.

By Rory Smith

9:00PM GMT 10 Jan 2010

Seven Premier League games fell by the wayside this weekend, with only the matches at Birmingham and Arsenal, as well as Monday night's fixture between Blackburn and Manchester City at Eastlands, surviving the cold snap.

Bolton are the worst affected side, having lost fixtures at Sunderland, Arsenal and Wigan to the snow over the last three weeks.

But with the Arctic temperatures set to continue for at least another week, conditions are likely to be treacherous and doubts have been raised about the FA Cup third-round replays due to be played on Tuesday and on Wednesday, as well as the weekend's Premier League games.

Clubs are monitoring conditions around their grounds and consulting police and local authorities as they attempt to ensure supporter safety. In a season curtailed by two weeks to accommodate the early start of the World Cup, though, the game's governing bodies are aware more postponements could lead to timing difficulties once European competition resumes in February.

Only two weekends remain clear between now and the end of the season, on Jan 23/24 and Feb13/14th, both dates set aside for the fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Cup.

The rearranged Carling Cup semi-finals, which fell victim to the snow last week, will be played over the next three weeks, while two rounds of midweek Premier League games are already scheduled to take place at the end of January and in the second week of February. FA Cup fourth-round replays are slotted in to take place in the first week of February.

For those sides in Europe, there are likely to be no available midweek dates to play rearranged games until mid-March at the earliest.

The situation is further complicated by Uefa's decision to play the first knockout round of the Champions League over four dates, rather than two in February and March, while Liverpool, Everton and Fulham, the entrants to the Europa League, could have four games to play in the same period.

England face Egypt on March 3 at Wembley as coach Fabio Capello's side prepare for the World Cup, while Premier League sides reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup will have to reschedule league games to fit those fixtures in. A handful of games, postponed earlier in the season, are still to be played.

Clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two, where just eight fixtures of 36 survived the weather over the weekend, are likely to be similarly affected.